Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The author calls Judaism a "wrong religion", he has no real knowledge of history and he wants to move Israel to the Baltic Sea., January 11, 2008
The author of this book needs a serious refresher course in history. For example, on page 37 he talks about how the mujahedin fighters were able to force the Soviet armies to leave Afghanistan, calling it, "the first Muslim military victory in centuries, in fact the first since Saladin, the greatest of Muslim heroes, had conquered Jerusalem in 1187 AD." This is completely false, ignoring the Muslim Ottoman conquests of a large part of Europe in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Ottoman armies reached the point where they laid siege to Vienna. His statement also ignores the victory of the Muslim Algerians in freeing themselves from French control in 1962.
Even worse than this are his statements on the first page.
"A very long time ago, so it appears to me, the Jews committed three fundamental mistakes.
First, they followed Moses into the desert instead of letting him wander off alone. In doing so, they adopted what the world subsequently determined to be a wrong religion. That was a fateful error inasmuch as it is common knowledge how dreadful a sin it is to adhere to a wrong religion."
This sets the tone for the rest of the book as it clearly establishes the author's position that Judaism is a "wrong religion."
In the latter part of the book, Nennhaus suggests that the solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict is to create a more "realistic" Jewish homeland in the Baltic regions, literally purchasing the land from the current owners. There is a map of this proposed new state on page 68, it would be bordered on the north by Lithuania, on the west by the Baltic sea, on the south by Poland and on the west by Russia. The region was formerly part of East Prussia that the Soviets took possession of at the end of World War II. After this idea is put forward, Nennhaus then moves on to describing the beauty of the area, the current economic status and who would finance the purchase and the move.
This idea has about the same stature as his knowledge of history and religious "correctness", there is very little grasp of reality. This is a very bad book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A little book with lots of errors, May 15, 2008
This review is from: Quo Vadis, Israel? (Hardcover)
Let me sum up this book: Poor logic, plethora of informational errors, numerous historical mistakes, author bias and a huge miscalculation on the costs involved.
At about 120 pages, the book is almost devoid of facts and its underlying premise if unreasonable, illogical, and quite simply foolish.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A one-sided discussion about the Israel problem, January 12, 2008
Quo Vadis, Israel? (Where are you going, Israel?) discusses the crisis between Israel and the Palestinian people, a crisis which seems to have gone on forever with no hope in sight.
The author gives a decent history of Jewish persecution along with the roots of Palestinian hatred. He states that peace can't happen if things stay as they are and have been. He believes that the answer could be in relocating the State of Israel to a geographic area where there is no hostility.
"Experimentally, let us suppose we wanted to create a society in which the irrationality of passionate hate with its associated unimpeded brutality is driven into its maximum.
How would we have to go about it? My suggestion is to follow the recipe, which history employed in Israel and Palestine during the past six decades.... It is not unreasonable to fear that this mountain of loathing and abomination will be an irremovable fact dividing the Israelis and Palestinians and that in the unlikely event that some day in the future permanent peace between them becomes reality, it would still not extinguish the flames of mutual aversion."
The book gives the reader a basic understanding of how anti-Semitism happened throughout the world. We discover some of the autocracies the Jews endured and how that led to Zionism.
"For Jews and non-Jews alike," Nennhaus says, "the State of Israel has become the source of disappointment and concern. The world has witnessed the never-ending tragedy that has befallen the Holy Land with its wars, bombings and intifadas, and the United States, in spite of its unmatched influence, has been unable to resolve the crisis." Using a number of potential scenarios, he asserts that any future efforts to make a peaceful solution will be unsuccessful.
I'm not sure Israel should expect the United States to provide an answer to its problems. We are condemned when we intervene and condemned when we don't.
I found the book interesting but rather one-sided. It was mostly a commentary. But certainly worth reading for those interested in this subject.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
